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About The Columbia press. (Astoria, Or.) 1949-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 24, 2020)
January 24, 2020 T he C olumbia P ress History: Old post office most notable structure Continued from Page 1 to buy that building in 1990 for $25,000, but decided to instead buy the house on East Harbor (Drive) next to State Farm In- surance,” Nevan said. “At one time in the 1940s – I think – it was a barber shop owned by Le- roy Dunn’s father. I remember seeing a bunch of old whisky bottles under the building.” Nevan kept an office cat to keep the rats at bay. Only buildings in the current and historical downtown were surveyed. Several homes in the area were included. Other com- mercial buildings of note in the downtown: • Iredale Inn, 159 S. Main Ave., built in 1925. • The Club at 119 S. Main Ave., now El Compadre Restaurant. It was built in 1945. • Fenton Grocery Building, 60 S. Main Ave., also known as Wil- son’s Drug Store. • Maize’s Market/Stuckrath’s Variety Store, now combined into Main Street Market at 191 S. Main Ave. Maize’s was at the south end and Stuckrath’s at the north. It was built in 1925. • North Coast Shooter’s Sup- ply at 138 S. Main Ave. built in 1959. • The former gas station at 238 S. Main Ave., across the street from City Hall, now housing a taxi company. • Trina and Ron’s Place, 45 N.E. Skipanon Drive, historical- ly known as Kelson’s Café. • A steel industrial shop at 60 S.E. First St., now home to War- renton Auto & Marine Repair. • A World War II-era shop building at 38 S.E. First St., ad- jacent to Warrenton Auto. • A mid-century service station at 120 E. Harbor Drive, across the street from Fultano’s Pizza, it is home to an auto detail shop today. • A 1945 storage/shop build- ing at 390 S. Main Ave. • The city’s public works shops at 45 S.W. Second St., which date to 1940. • A four-plex apartment build- ing at 48 S.E. Anchor Ave., Post offices of the past Like its downtown, early Warren- ton was an amalgam of places. Long before Warrenton incor- porated in 1899, there was the community of Lexington. Lexing- ton was Clatsop County’s first non-Indian settlement and the first county seat. Lexington’s post office op- erated between 1850 and 1857 along the banks of the Skipanon River between Second and Third streets, about a block behind SuperMart. The Skipanon post office was which dates to 1925. • Maddox Dance Studio at 389 S. Main Ave., which dates to 1924. • A circa 1900 building at 87 N.E. Harbor Ct. Once part of the historic Mason and War- ren building, all distinguishable open from 1871 to 1903 in the area between South Main Ave- nue and Highway 101 south of Whiskey Road, an area that’s just outside city limits today. The Flavel post office was near Hammond on Northwest War- renton Drive, just southeast of Carruthers Park. The Graham post office was on the east side of Northwest Warrenton Drive, just north of Alder Creek. Kindred post office was off Ridge Road north of the KOA. features have been removed or covered. “The purpose was to get an idea of the historic properties, their capacity for preservation or restoration, and to provide some insight into any possible future steps,” the mayor said of 5 the survey. The survey area also is a focus of the city’s urban renewal advi- sory board and Spruce Up War- renton, a grassroots citizens’ group. “I am interested in deepening our citizens’ roots and ties to the place they live,” Balensifer said. “If we are to love our city, we must first feel a sense of place. It’s the difference between a house and home, and our city has grown so fast that we have a lot of citizens who have no roots or no idea of the city’s rich his- tory.”